The Lucerne Toolbox 2 to optimise axillary management for early breast cancer: a multidisciplinary expert consensus.

Clinical axillary lymph node management in early breast cancer has evolved from being merely an aspect of surgical management and now includes the entire multidisciplinary team. The second edition of the "Lucerne Toolbox", a multidisciplinary consortium of European cancer societies and patient representatives, addresses the challenges of clinical axillary lymph node management, from diagnosis to local therapy of the axilla. Five working packages were developed, following the patients' journey and addressing specific clinical scenarios.

Oncoplastic breast consortium recommendations for mastectomy and whole breast reconstruction in the setting of post-mastectomy radiation therapy.

Aim: Demand for nipple- and skin- sparing mastectomy (NSM/SSM) with immediate breast reconstruction (BR) has increased at the same time as indications for post-mastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) have broadened. The aim of the Oncoplastic Breast Consortium initiative was to address relevant questions arising with this clinically challenging scenario.

Methods: A large global panel of oncologic, oncoplastic and reconstructive breast surgeons, patient advocates and radiation oncologists developed recommendations for clinical practice in an iterative process based on the principles of Delphi methodology.

Breast conservation and axillary management after primary systemic therapy in patients with early-stage breast cancer: the Lucerne toolbox.

Primary systemic therapy is increasingly used in the treatment of patients with early-stage breast cancer, but few guidelines specifically address optimal locoregional therapies. Therefore, we established an international consortium to discuss clinical evidence and to provide expert advice on technical management of patients with early-stage breast cancer. The steering committee prepared six working packages to address all major clinical questions from diagnosis to surgery.

Oncoplastic Breast Consortium consensus conference on nipple-sparing mastectomy.

Purpose: Indications for nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) have broadened to include the risk reducing setting and locally advanced tumors, which resulted in a dramatic increase in the use of NSM. The Oncoplastic Breast Consortium consensus conference on NSM and immediate reconstruction was held to address a variety of questions in clinical practice and research based on published evidence and expert panel opinion.

Methods: The panel consisted of 44 breast surgeons from 14 countries across four continents with a background in gynecology, general or reconstructive surgery and a practice dedicated to breast cancer, as well as a patient advocate.

First international consensus conference on standardization of oncoplastic breast conserving surgery.

Purpose: To obtain consensus recommendations for the standardization of oncoplastic breast conserving surgery (OPS) from an international panel of experts in breast surgery including delegates from the German, Austrian and Swiss societies of senology.

Methods: A total of 52 questions were addressed by electronic voting. The panel's recommendations were put into context with current evidence and the report was circled in an iterative open email process until consensus was obtained.

A time and motion study of subcutaneous versus intravenous trastuzumab in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer.

Within PrefHer (NCT01401166), patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs) preferred subcutaneous (SC) over intravenous (IV) trastuzumab. We undertook a prospective, observational time and motion study to quantify patients' time in infusion chairs and active HCP time in PrefHer. Patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer received four adjuvant cycles of SC trastuzumab (600 mg fixed dose via SC single-use injection device [SID, Cohort 1] or SC handheld syringe [HHS, Cohort 2]) then four cycles of standard IV trastuzumab or the reverse sequence.

PET/MRI and PET/CT in advanced gynaecological tumours: initial experience and comparison.

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of PET/MRI and PET/CT for staging and re-staging advanced gynaecological cancer patients as well as identify the potential benefits of each method in such a population.

Material And Methods: Twenty-six patients with suspicious or proven advanced gynaecological cancer (12 ovarian, seven cervical, one vulvar and four endometrial tumours, one uterine metastasis, and one primary peritoneal cancer) underwent whole-body imaging with a sequential trimodality PET/CT/MR system. Images were analysed regarding primary tumour detection and delineation, loco-regional lymph node staging, and abdominal/extra-abdominal distant metastasis detection (last only by PET/CT).

Quantitative volumetric breast density estimation using phase contrast mammography.

Phase contrast mammography using a grating interferometer is an emerging technology for breast imaging. It provides complementary information to the conventional absorption-based methods. Additional diagnostic values could be further obtained by retrieving quantitative information from the three physical signals (absorption, differential phase and small-angle scattering) yielded simultaneously.

Non-invasive classification of microcalcifications with phase-contrast X-ray mammography.

Microcalcifications can be indicative in the diagnosis of early breast cancer. Here we report a non-invasive diagnostic method that may potentially distinguish between different types of microcalcifications using X-ray phase-contrast imaging. Our approach exploits the complementary nature of the absorption and small-angle scattering signals of microcalcifications, obtained simultaneously with an X-ray grating interferometer on a conventional X-ray tube.

The Central-European SentiMag study: sentinel lymph node biopsy with superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) vs. radioisotope.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is the standard surgical procedure for the axilla in early node-negative breast cancer. To date, the "gold standard" to localize the sentinel lymph node (SLN) is the radiotracer (99m)Tc with or without blue dye. The aim of this study was to evaluate potential equivalency of the new SentiMag(®) technique in comparison to the "gold standard".

A study on mastectomy samples to evaluate breast imaging quality and potential clinical relevance of differential phase contrast mammography.

Objectives: Differential phase contrast and scattering-based x-ray mammography has the potential to provide additional and complementary clinically relevant information compared with absorption-based mammography. The purpose of our study was to provide a first statistical evaluation of the imaging capabilities of the new technique compared with digital absorption mammography.

Materials And Methods: We investigated non-fixed mastectomy samples of 33 patients with invasive breast cancer, using grating-based differential phase contrast mammography (mammoDPC) with a conventional, low-brilliance x-ray tube.

Should less motion sensitive T2-weighted BLADE TSE replace Cartesian TSE for female pelvic MRI?

Objectives: To prospectively compare the diagnostic performance of a non-Cartesian k-space sampling T2-weighted TSE BLADE sequence with a conventional T2-weighted TSE sequence in female pelvic organs.

Methods: Forty-seven patients with sonographically indeterminate adnexal masses or uterine lesions underwent sagittal BLADE and conventional TSE at 1.5 T after glucagon administration.

Breast Abscesses: Diagnosis, Treatment and Outcome.

BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to analyze diagnostic results, different treatment modalities, and the outcome of patients with breast abscesses treated at our institution in a multi-modality breast team, to determine whether minimally invasive treatments are successful. METHODS: 110 patients with mastitis and suspected breast abscesses at our institution between January 2000 and end of September 2007 were retrospectively analyzed. Abscesses were diagnosed using ultrasonography (US), and the material obtained using US-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) was further examined.

The first analysis and clinical evaluation of native breast tissue using differential phase-contrast mammography.

Objectives: Phase-contrast and scattering-based x-ray imaging are known to provide additional and complementary information to conventional, absorption-based methods, and therefore have the potential to play a crucial role in medical diagnostics. We report on the first mammographic investigation of 5 native, that is, freshly dissected, breasts carried out with a grating interferometer and a conventional x-ray tube source. Four patients in this study had histopathologically proven invasive breast cancer.

MRI of the female pelvis: a possible pitfall in the differentiation of haemorrhagic vs. fatty lesions using fat saturated sequences with inversion recovery.

The use of fat-saturated techniques should be an integral part of the work-up of any T1-hyperintense structure in the female pelvis for tissue characterization and for differentiation of a fat-containing ovarian mature teratoma from a haemorrhagic lesion. Two cases with haematocolpos and haematometra are presented, respectively. The haemorrhagic content showed high signal both on T1- and T2-weighted images, whereas an unexpected signal decrease in the fat-saturated T2-weighted inversion-recovery sequence was encountered.

Indeterminate adnexal masses at ultrasound: effect of MRI imaging findings on diagnostic thinking and therapeutic decisions.

Objective: To determine the impact of MRI including DWI on therapeutic decision-making and costs in the work-up of patients with a indeterminate adnexal mass on ultrasound.

Methods: Thirty-eight patients with indeterminate ovarian lesions scheduled for surgery were included in this prospective study. In a questionnaire, the surgeon characterised the lesions based on a morphological score and determined the surgical procedure.

Successful remission of extensive liver metastases in a breast cancer patient with acute liver failure using a combined chemotherapy regimen with mitomycin, folinate, and 5-fluorouracil (Mi/Fo/FU).

Background: Liver failure due to disseminated hepatic secondaries represents a therapeutic dilemma in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Reduced liver function and non-assessable toxicity are limiting factors in the selection of chemotherapeutic agents. Currently, there is no standard treatment after failure of anthracycline-and taxane-based first-line therapies, although there is a variety of well evaluated drugs such as capecitabine.

Safe total intrafascial laparoscopic (TAIL) hysterectomy: a prospective cohort study.

This study directly compares total intrafascial laparoscopic (TAIL) hysterectomy with vaginal (VH) and abdominal (AH) hysterectomy with regard to safety, operating time and time of convalescence. The study is a prospective cohort study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2), including data from patients of a single university-affiliated teaching institution, admitted between 1997 and 2008 for hysterectomy due to benign uterus pathology. Patient data were collected pre-, intra- and postoperatively and complications documented using a standardised data sheet of a Swiss obstetric and gynaecological study group (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Schweizerische Frauenkliniken, Amlikon/Switzerland).